Yes, those things existed. I saw very little of them, and mostly avoided them. That wasn't easy either. I had some special training in survival and evasion, and

Yes, those things existed. I saw very little of them, and mostly avoided them. That wasn't easy either. I had some special training in survival and evasion, and it wasn't that serious, but it was the mindset I was coming from. I did a lot of walking, all day, all night, carrying everything with me, and very little sleeping. Sometimes I'd try to memorize a song, and in harder times I'd just repeat to myself, "I will always keep myself mentally alert, physically strong and morally straight". During the summer it was bougie homeless. The numbers dwindled as the weather got cold until I was alone for all I knew, and the cold was brutal, especially up in the hills when everything I had was wet from the rain. The first time I got really sick, I was freezing and miserable, and I gave up; I walked out and headed into town to catch the bus to a shelter. I got on Hotel 22 at about 2am, and realized pretty quickly that I was in a bad place, and I was headed to a worse place. The driver made it clear: the dude in a t-shirt shaking wild-eyed and moaning was going to the VA shelter, and everybody else was there to avoid it. I went back into the hills with a bit more acceptance of fate in my mind. I'm not sure that it would be as easy to avoid today. I've watched it get worse, thankfully not up close. "There but for the grace of god go I". I whisper that to myself every day, and conversely, no matter how much I succeed and achieve and prove myself professionally, I'll never feel like I truly deserve anything better than "cold nasty brutish and short". That may be what I liked about it most of all, a feeling like I didn't owe anybody anything, like there was nothing to feel guilty for. That's a special kind of freedom.